Unai Emery reveals what Sir Alex Ferguson told him about winning Europa League

Unai Emery reveals what Sir Alex Ferguson told him about winning Europa League

Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson once teased him about Europa League success with Sevilla and asked if he wouldn’t rather win the Champions League instead.

Emery won the Europa League three times in a row while in Seville between 2014 and 2016.

During that run, the Spaniard attended UEFA’s Elite Coaches Forum in Nyon, Switzerland and Manchester United legend Ferguson couldn’t help but have some fun with the Spaniard.

In an interview on Soccer AM, Emery said: “One day we were in Nyon for the coaches meeting and I was defending a lot the Europa League, and he – Ferguson – asked me, “But really Unai, do you not prefer to win the Champions League?”

“Yes of course! He don’t need to say it [laughing]. But at that moment I can be happy and I can defend the Europa League because also I think the UEFA people improve a lot this competition. But really, really the first is the Champions League – okay.”

Speaking about his first trophy win, he said: “My first trophy was the Europa League with Sevilla, against Benfica in Turin. It was amazing.

“As a player it was very difficult to achieve some trophies, when I was starting as a coach I was thinking, “I want to progress, I want to improve, I want to move ahead” and when the first title arrived it was [breathes sigh of relief].